I'm still around, despite things. Life has been difficult this past year, to say the least. I've dealt with a lot of loss and change over the past 12 months or so, and more ahead of me as the new year approaches.
To keep it brief: I'll be leaving this place and returning to the east coast. I've been yearning for that for some time now, but as with all major life changes, it comes with a whole range of complicated and intense mixed emotions: I've lost my primary income and my relationship. Things are rough financially. I've been spinning my own wheels for a year. And yet I have to figure out how to get myself moved 3k miles across the country. It's a lot.
So I've decided to take a piece of it with me in the form of permanent ink, where I can hold it close to my heart forever.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a tattoo of a particular bonsai that is very very special to me: the iconic Furuzawa Pine, a specific Japanese black pine (kuromatsu) tree found at the aforementioned Pacific Bonsai Museum.
Photo of the Furuzawa Pine that I took in Dec. 2023
The Furuzawa Pine has a fascinating history. It was grown in a tin can from seed by Japanese American Juzaburo Furuzawa in the early 1940s while he was incarcerated in an internment camp in Topaz, Utah, during World War II. He probably grew several trees, but this bonsai might be the only remaining one to survive to present day.
Despite all it had been through & all the places it traveled, the Furuzawa Pine continued to survive and thrive under expert care. Then in early 2020, it and another bonsai were stolen from the Pacific Bonsai Museum. Fortunately, they were returned a couple of days later and both trees made a full recovery.
I had seen the Furuzawa Pine plenty of times before at previous visits
to the PBM, but this news story really captivated me. Of all
the specimens there, it may not be the most showy or unique tree -
Japanese black pine are very common bonsai - but its history really
makes it special. Its particular species of tree is a symbol of
resilience, longevity, and strength: themes that resonate with me very
deeply, especially in the past few years. The Furuzawa Pine is very special to me now, and every time I see it in person it's like seeing an old friend.
Last night into today marks the Winter Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere. I spent the early morning hours watching the live stream of sunrise at Newgrange in Ireland.
The Winter Solstice is an astronomical phenomenon that marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice occurs on 21 or 22 December, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn. At sunrise on the shortest day of the year, for 17 minutes, direct sunlight can enter the Newgrange monument, not through the doorway, but through the specially contrived small opening above the entrance known as the ‘roof box’, to illuminate the Chamber.
And then I left the house before dawn to try and get a glimpse of the
rising sun from my part of the world. Alas, too cloudy/rainy; nevertheless, I felt a sense of peace as the sky grew brighter.
In the next couple of months, I will be enduring a lot of things and going thru big life changes that will test my resilience. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm pretty fucking scared. But I'm going to do my best to remember that the dark times don't last. The sun will rise again and bring back the light. I am resilient and strong. I can keep going. And I will find joy and peace and reasons to love living again.
One of my favorite seasonal rituals has been achieved - my annual visit to The Big E!
It was a gorgeous weekday, and we got there on the early side before things got too crowded. The sun was out, the temperature just right, a perfect autumn day from morning til evening.
The free wine tasting, featuring 6 New England area wineries, was one of the highlights of my late morning. It gets crowded during peak times and I hadn't been able to go in years. We didn't have to wait too long. I'm not even a big wine or alcoholic beverage person, but I do like new experiences and flavors, so this is always a fun time.
Of course, one of the main attractions to the fair is the food. This year I broke with tradition and mostly tried foods that were new: either new to me, or new to the fair this year, starting with plantain fries topped with pork, grilled onion/peppers, and a yummy sauce. Loved this and would get it again.
Next up: the apple fries, new to the fair this year and highly recommended. These were fantastic, crispy fries made of apples and dusted with cinnamon sugar - we opted for the caramel sauce addition.
New to me this year was the deep-fried taco, the outer skin reminded me a bit of an egg roll. We chose the chicken option, which also had lettuce, tomato, cheese, & sour cream. I would've loved some hot sauce on this, but it was otherwise pretty great.
We also shared a Mass Sea Breeze, a refreshing and very sweet drink.
And last up: the smoked salmon on a stick from the Maine building - which usually sells out as it is extremely popular. It's definitely some of the BEST salmon I've ever eaten, and I am a huge fan of salmon. I've had it before, but most years they run out before I can get it.
Pickle lemonade was one of the new offerings at the fair this year, but we didn't try it. There were a lot of pickle-flavored items, including pickle-topped pizza and a pickle cupcake. I didn't try any of those either. I like pickles, but not sure I need a pickle cupcake. Maybe if I'd had more wine it would've sounded like a good idea.
Last food item of the day, which is my usual custom, is buying a cream puff or 2 to bring home. This year's special flavor was MAPLE which I am extremely excited about. Maple is one of my favorite New England flavors, 10/10 would recommend this cream puff.
I was happy to see some Halloweeny vibes here and there as well, mostly in the Storrowtown/craft area of the fair.
The Rhode Island building always showcases the Great Jack O'Lantern Spectacular, which returns every year to the Roger Williams Park Zoo (and is absolutely worth visiting; I blogged about it a couple years ago)
Our night concluded with a spooky moonrise. And that's it for my 2023 Big E adventure!
To read more of my more in-depth posts about The Big E, check out these links:
Tuesday, August 1st was the Full Sturgeon Supermoon, a cool clear night good for moon-gazing. It's still summer, but the autumn vibe is definitely in the air.
The dark half of the year, the season of death, approaches.
For those of us closely aligned with the Autumn season, I think there comes a
point every year (and it is
probably different for each of us, & on a different day each year) when you
wake up and something has turned. The bone-deep feeling that summer has begun to wane as autumn
approaches.
It doesn't really have anything to do with hot weather,
or lack thereof (so far, we've had a pretty mild summer in western
Washington, knock on wood), but -- a certain slant of sunlight, or the way the wind sounds in the trees, or just -- something. Something crosses
a threshold and suddenly, there it is, as obvious as flipping a light switch. You just know. You can feel it.
The ancient holidays known as Lammas/Lughnasadh occur around Aug
1st, celebrating the first of the year's big harvest festivals. Crops are plentiful
at this time, and we might be thinking about what has come to fruition,
literally and metaphorically.
For me, this year, that day of The Switch was the 25th of July. I woke up and just felt it in the air as the morning breeze came in through the window. On my way throughout the errands of the day, I came upon a small dead bird on our
sidewalk. I don't know what happened to him, why he died. He looked like he was sleeping. We picked
him up to place him on the far side of our yard so he wouldn't just
get picked up by someone else and tossed in the trash. He deserved a
dignified resting place as he becomes one with the Earth again. I placed
a tiny flower by his head and blew him a kiss goodnight.
Some folks consider Labor Day Weekend the last hurrah of Summer, and the unofficial beginning of Autumn.
The weather this past weekend makes a strong argument for that notion. Dry, warm, breezy days which give over to light sweater-weather temps when the sun sets.
